Woman ‘raped’ at Infosys says was asked to come back next day

A 25-year-old woman who was allegedly raped inside the Pune campus of software major Infosys has told police she was asked by security staff at the premises to come back the next day when she approached them to file a complaint.

Two male housekeeping staff members who were employed by a contractor in a canteen inside the 114-acre Pune premises allegedly raped the female worker inside the lavatory on Sunday evening.

A 25-year-old woman who was allegedly raped inside the Pune campus of software major Infosys has told police she was asked by security staff at the premises to come back the next day when she approached them to file a complaint.

Two male housekeeping staff members – Paritosh Lala Baug (21) and Prakash Kisan Mahadik (30) – who were employed by a contractor in a canteen inside the 114-acre premises – allegedly raped the female worker inside the lavatory on Sunday evening.

But when she narrated the incident to the security staff, they asked her to come back on Monday instead of accompanying her to the authorities to register a case.

“I narrated the incident to female security guard Rupa at gate. The news got spread among others at the gate. I was then asked to come next day,” she said in her statement given to police.

On Monday, she went to a doctor after feeling uneasy and later filed a police complaint. Officials said they were investigating any possible lapse by her employer.

In a Tuesday statement, Infosys said the incident involved the contractual staff of one of its partners. “We are investigating the matter and are working closely with the police to aid their investigation,” the statement said. The company also said it has a “zero tolerance” policy against sexual harassment which extends to contractual staff as well, and that all the campuses have stringent security measures in place.

Repeated attempts to reach to Infosys for a response remained unsuccessful. A private agency representing the firm told HT they were cooperating with investigating agencies and confirmed the security staff at the facility was outsourced to a contractor.